Rethinking Ron form several angles.

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 106099

Rethinking Ron

Leadership-

Let me begin by asking if an Army Sergeant a leader? He leads a
platoon of men, and is responsible for them. Yet, he must follow
higher ranking Sergeants. Is a Lieutenant a leader, he does after all
follow a Captain? So, is the Captain a leader when he in turn follows
a Major who in turn follows a Colonel who in turn follows a General
who in turn follows a bigger General who in turn follows the leader of
the country who in turn is responsible to the people of the country
who in turn partly make up the foot soldiers of the Army and those
foot soldiers in turn follow a Sergeant?

The point I'm making now is the same one I made in other posts, that
to have leadership skill doesn't mean you are always the guy in front
telling everyone else what to do. It's about stepping up when called
upon. It's about being decisive when it counts. It's about courage and
a willingness to face danger. It's about taking initiative, setting
priorities, understanding teamwork, and being able to function under
pressure. 

Even among equals, such as foot soldiers, there are natural leaders
who have the qualities I have outline. When the 'OH CRAP!' situation
occurs every face turns towards them for direction even if they are
not the official leader. If Harry is not there and Ron is, then it's
safe to say every face will turn toward Ron.

Harry, in a manner of speaking, has his own army now, the DA Club, and
while Harry may be the Captain, he is going to need a few trusted
Lieutenants to act as leaders. I can't think of anyone who is more
qualified, who has more often proven themselves time and time again,
who can be trusted to express the leadership skill I have outlined
better than Hermione and Ron. Just because you aren't THE leader
doesn't mean you aren't A leader.

In everyday life, Ron is just a 'guy', not much different than Seamus
or Dean. But ask yourself, whose hands do you want to put your own
life in Ron's or Seamus's? Me, I'll take Ron.


Prefect Qualifications-

For the moment, let's not compare Ron to Harry, how about if we
compare Ron's qualification to Seamus's? What has Seamus ever done?
How has he ever distinguished himself in any way? When has he ever
shown that he has what it takes to function in a crisis, and take
initiative under extreme pressure? He hasn't. He hasn't demonstrated
any skills or taken any initiative to suggest that he could be a good
Prefect. 

Under ideal conditions the worst candidate can be an adequate Prefect,
but under extreme pressure and in the face of danger, would you prefer
the first years were in the hands of Seamus or Ron? 

Certainly Harry is a good candidate for Prefect, but we have to
consider 'pluses' AND 'Minuses'. Harry has a lot of pluses, but he
also has significant minuses. He's under tremendous pressure that is
only going to get worse. These pressures and the fact that an obsessed
nutter is trying to kill him, make for some serious distractions.

Given the pressures and distraction Harry is faced with, is he really
in a good position to take on the added responsibilities of Prefect?
It's not a question of whether he would be honored by the appointment;
it's a question of is it right and productive to heap that additional
pressure on him, especially when Dumbledore knows, as of the beginning
of OotP, that Harry hasn't yet faced his greatest burden; the Prophecy?

Compound this by the fact that Dumbledore knows Dolores Umbridge will
be at the school with the specific intent of discrediting both
Dumbledore and Harry. It makes perfect sense for Dumbledore to appoint
the second best candidate who also happens to have a good cross
section of proven skill and experience, and far fewer minuses. So, he
chose Ron; the only Gryffindor boy, other than Harry, who has
distinguished himself in any way. 

When all the 'pluses' and 'minuses' were weighed, Ron won the position
of Prefect. 


Prefect - Good or Bad-

Ron was certainly no Hermione or Percy, but then who in that school
is? No one lives up to that standard. Ron was just as good a Prefect
as any other Prefect. He did his job, he helped the first years, he
monitored the halls, he carried out his duties as well as anyone else. 

Why didn't he take on Fred and George? Why didn't anyone else? The
other Prefects didn't care if Fred and George were testing on first
years. They saw the sign posted on the bulletin board. They saw what
was going on in the common room. It's grossly unfair to imply that Ron
failed because he didn't meet Hermione's standard. Ron certainly had
far better reasons than any of the other Prefect for not challenging
the Twins; he has to live with them year round.

Plus, this was Ron's first year as Prefect. Now there will be two more
(probably Ginny) junior Prefects that the older Prefects can put the
'busy work' on, while the Senior Prefects kick back and concentrate on
the really important things. Remember, we have all out war now, and
Prefects are going to be called on to do more that keep the noise
down. In time, Ron will prove he was a good choice.

In addition to all Ron's other attributes, Dumbledore was probably
attracted to Ron in the position of Prefect because Ron had the
greatest potential to grow. As I believe Shaun pointed out a while
back in our many 'boarding school' discussions, sometimes unrealized
potential is the very reason a person is made Prefect. 


Order of the Phoenix - Fight at the Ministry

I was thoroughly annoyed with how Ron was portrayed in the Dept of
Mysteries fight; incoherent, laughing and giggling, making stupid
jokes, summoning the brain, etc.... But as much as I hated that, I
understand why it played out that way. JKR needed ALL members of the
DA Club to be disabled so that Neville could step forward into the
light; it was his chance to shine. 

That pretty much made all the DA members dead weight from a story
perspective, so why not have Ron throw in a little humor. Remember,
Ron wasn't just being a jerk, he was under the influence of a power
spell; dazed and confused.


The Face of the Clown-

Several people argued whether Ron was strictly comic relief; whether
he has personal potential or if he was doomed to be forever the
bumbling but lovable sidekick.

Is Ron comic relief? Yes, he's a funny guy and that's one of the
reasons Harry likes him, and one of the reasons I like him.

So, the argument isn't is he comic relief, it whether he is JUST comic
relief. The answer is I certainly don't think he is limited to the
role of bumbling but lovable comic sidekick. A bumbling sidekick
doesn't take charge and play a life-and-death game of chess like Ron
did, nor does he readily sacrifice himself at the end. A bumbling
sidekick doesn't stand on a broken leg, step in front of his best
friend, and face down the most dangerous killer alive. A clown doesn't
fight his way out of the grips of the Inquisitorial Squad, enter deep
into a dark and dangerous forest full of monsters, giants, and mad
Centaur to help a friend.

So yes, without a doubt Ron is a funny guy, but he has been, is, and
will be so much more than that.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Steve/asian_lovr2